Early Roman bronze door

In 1845, a double-leaf bronze lattice door was found during construction work on the Albansschanze. The workers smashed it to pieces so that they could sell it. Inquiries lead to parts of the convolute being rescued, which can be assembled to form the left door panel. Stylistic examinations dated the door to the 1st century A.D. Scientific analyses revealed an unusually high tin content of bronze for the Roman period, which originally made the door shine golden. The lead used comes from deposits north of the Alps, presumably from the Eifel region. Therefore, it is very likely that the door was made in our region.

It is unclear where the door was used in Roman times. It may have been for a representative building, the stage theatre or a temple. A 12th-century source describes a "particularly splendid door", later also called "Porta Aurea", Golden Door, belonging to the monastery of St. Alban, which neighbored the site. Speculation as to whether this door is identical to the early Roman door, which may have been reused in the monastery and thus survived the ages, cannot be substantiated.